No, Really. I'm NOT Dead!

Hey, guess what!? I’m not really dead… I’m only MOSTLY dead.
Just kidding.

I know I’ve been MIA for over a week - ok, ok, 2 weeks. But well, since so few people read here and most know that I was busy, I’m not worrying too much. You know where I was. You know I was slogging around in the mud and RAIN when my folks were here last week. We were working on our gardens, which around here, is also known as mud slinging because it rained pretty much all week. Nasty.

And we’ve been working on the first stages of our “backyard oasis” which involves a pergola and a clothesline. It seems like a bizarre combination, but it makes me happy. We got to do our pergola in gusty wind. Now THAT was fuu-unn.

And you also know that I’ve been up to my eyeballs in just STUFF - kids, school, clutter, playdates, committees, meetings. And if you didn’t know that, well, now you do.

However, the focus these past 2 weeks has been the garden. I had a garden in Eastcoatsville. My whole front yard, which was about the size of a postage stamp, was a garden (and that's allll the yard we had), and my folks also helped me with that garden as well. It was fabulous before we moved. It was all I could do not to dig up some of my favourites and bring them with me across 3 states. I still mourn my hydrangea. I loved that plant.

However, despite having, what by comparison seems like a football field of yard, we got a great start on the new garden and I’m excited to see how things fill in this year. I bought a NEW hydrangea, and am attempting clematis again. I hope I don’t kill it. We built some garden boxes in the back and have a fun kids garden and my herb garden. Finally!

And I definitely need to say a HUGE thank you to my parents who went above and beyond AGAIN for me. They built the boxes, painted, helped me to decide on plants, shared their "planty" wisdom, carried soil, slogged endlessly in the clay/mud/rain, dug through rampant hostas, clay and 9 thousand layers of landscape cloth, hauled all manner of crap to our back yard. And held up pergola posts in gale force winds. And watched the kids and did the dishes. And did not freak out when I had one of my over tired, guilt ridden break downs when I kind of freaked out about asking/needing so much help.

Thank you a thousand times for everything you do for me/us.

What I’ve Learned This Year:

* I love hostas. Love them. Despite the fact that they grow like weeds, I love them. My front garden was totally hostas. I loved them, but well, I needed more variety. I couldn’t BEAR to part with any of them, so after we dug them up, we planted them all over the yard.

* I also am aware that I’ve just spread my slug problem all over the yard, as slugs seem to love hostas almost as much as I do. Except, um, I don't really want to eat them.

* The nasty, twiggy shrubs by my front windows were azaleas. Never would have guessed. They were being choked out by the periwinkle. So, we dug those up too, twigs sprouting a few sad, pink flowers and leaves and move them too. I’m willing to give them a second chance.

* The other twiggy type shrub by the garage is a beautiful lilac! I was so going to dig that sucker up and toss it because last year it was just nasty, but well, every time I walk out my front door I get wafts of lilac scent and I just can’t bear to get rid of it. It’s just too pretty. It's redeemed itself, so, it gets to stay.

* As a result of digging things up, I got a whole side garden from the leftover lilies, hostas and azaleas. Whohoo.

* Most of our yard, under the grass is clay.

* In general, sod is heavy, but even heavier when covered in clay.

* Wet clay stuck to your shoes (and pants/hands/hair) makes you feel like Frankenstein.

* Wet clay is really, really hard to get off.

* Kids covered in wet clay who then roll in sand are almost impossible to get clean without scraping off a layer of skin.

Anyway, I’m attempting to get back into the groove here, or maybe I’m attempting to FIND a groove as I can’t ever seem to get into one. I feel like I keep popping my head outside to check in on all my little plants in between all that other every day life stuff.

But stay tuned for: the Mother's Day recap, shopping for shirts when you're short waisted during a long shirt trend, Mouse - the birthday prep, and the end of the school year wind down.

I know, you can hardly wait, right? Oh yeah. (bwahahaha!)